Taquan Air

Taquan Air is the operating name for Venture Travel, LLC, an American regional airline based in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It operates domestic scheduled passenger and charter services. Its base is Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base, which shares the same harbor and airspace as Ketchikan International Airport. As per the United States Department of Transportation in a report dated August 2, 2010, Taquan Air is a U.S. Certificated Air Carrier, and is 1 of 125 such carriers in the US.

Taquan Air's heyday was in 1997 when they were the largest floatplane company in the world and the second largest air commuter service in Alaska, carrying 243,000 passengers that year. In a continuing effort to grow, they sought FAR part 121 certification, allowing them to carry more than nine passengers on a flight. They achieved certification and began flights in 1998, but the costs of the new venture and economic factors led to the sale of assets and layoffs in 1999. New ownership in 2000 kept the company name alive, and Taquan remains known for their floatplanes.

Taquan Air's flight schedule provides for the delivery of US Mail, and includes service to the fourth-largest island in the US, Prince of Wales Island; and the easternmost town in Alaska, Hyder. An accident in 2007 associated with a raincloud has led to the installation of weather cameras throughout Alaska. Taquan Air, along with other Ketchikan flight services, provides flightseeing tours over pristine Misty Fjords National Monument, and bear viewings within the Earth's largest remaining temperate rainforest, Tongass National Forest.